D - I'm tired + the Thunder game

I don't know about the rest of you snowed-in, iced-in moms, but I'm exhausted. I was prepared for the first day and even the 2nd and genuinely had fun staying cooped up with my kiddos those two days. We caught up on some cub scout projects and made food pyramids, scrapbooks, sock puppets, painted woodwork, went sledding, watched 2 movies and played LOTS of Nerf basketball, but now I'm tired of being the entertainer! Why, oh WHY, did Noah have to go and get himself grounded from the Wii? This last day (and it BETTER be the last day) has been exhausting.

Because of the looming insanity, we risked life and limb to go to the Thunder game last night. Despite the sure and sudden death that was certain to occur if we so much as looked at our car, we somehow drove 60 on the wet roads and made it with no problems. The game was a first for Katie and I, and it was a blast! Not being much of a basketball fan myself, I'm sure that simply getting out of the house was a large contributor to just how much fun I had.

Katie did NOT love every minute of the game....

So I had to work hard there too by dancing her around all over the place. I'm sure the people around us thought I was insane. Also, I'm not sure when I grew a second chin, but it's showing up in more and more pictures these days......

Lest you think Noah stayed behind, here he is in all his charming 7-year-oldness. Ain't he funny?

Having fun at the Thunder game!

M - Backyard Sledding

In an attempt to find one of the few redeeming attributes of all this ice we Okies seem to get at least once each winter, the kiddos and I headed out for some sledding yesterday evening. We have a great tank dam for such activities and wanted to share our fun with the rest of you.



No child was injured, at least not permanently, in the making of this video.

M - "The greatest casualty is being forgotten."

I'd try to explain this whole thing in my own words but I thought I'd better serve the mission by letting USMA Cadet David Swanson do it in his own words below (in a letter written to a friend of mine).

I plan to participate and I hope you will, too. If you want to sponsor me or someone else, that'd be great. Any tiny little amount is absolutely fine or nothing at all is fine.

The most important thing any of us can do, I suppose, is not forget the military sacrifices from the past or those being made right now. So many are in harm's way; perhaps patrolling a most dangerous street in Baghdad hoping for no roadside bombs or sniper fire, even as I sit here in my cozy, heated living room typing this blog.

If you are not able to participate but have some ideas how to get the word out further, please let me know and I'll make sure word gets passed along to Cadet Swanson.

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This is the bottom line up front: http://www.24hourbrigade.com/ When I come home to Oklahoma for Spring Leave, I am going to run for 24 hours on the track of my high school alma mater (Yukon High School) and I am going to do it as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/).

Now a few details: This is going to be more than just one crazy cadet running in circles for 24 hours. I have established a goal that I want 1000 miles to be run on the track in the 24 hour period. I’ll take care of about 120-130 of those miles by myself. The other 880 or so will be run by participants from the local area– avid runners and athletes, casual joggers and power walkers, mothers pushing babies in strollers…it’s an event tailored to all comers.

Donations will come from 3 sources –
1) Participants will run on the track for a “suggested donation” price of $1 per mile,
2) Participants will seek sponsors to pledge an amount for every mile they run on the track (this could be anything from a grandmother pledging a nickel for every mile her grandkid does to a rich lawyer pledging a thousand bucks to see one of his less-than-athletic colleagues drag himself around the track 4 times),
3) Corporate sponsors will pledge $1 for every mile that is run on the track in the 24 hour period (the idea is to have 10-15 of these corporate sponsors so that every mile run on the track becomes worth $10 or $15…

So for example, say my 13-year-old brother commits to complete 3 miles. He donates 3 bucks from his personal allowance, he collects pledges from church friends, our grandparents, etc. for upwards of $100, and he earns $30-$45 from corporate sponsors – all for the Wounded Warrior Project.

We will also advertise “satellite” runs going on during the same 24 hours. That way my roommate, for example, who will be at his home in Virginia can still participate in the event remotely and have the miles that he runs on 20/21 March count towards the 1000 mile goal.

It’s an idea, and a good one I think, but I’m still looking for a way to really get it off the ground. I find that the more people I talk to, the more good ideas are generated. And so I pitch to you – thoughts, ideas? Check out the website – http://www.24hourbrigade.com/. Hit me with some feedback…

Respectfully, Cadet Sergeant David Swanson West Point, USCC '10

M - Icy waters of the Mississippi

Oh my goodness it was COLD! Too bad I had to take two pictures to get the exposure right. The second time almost did me in!











You may be wondering 'why?'

Well, I have a much larger collection of me standing in various bodies of water all over the United States and a few internaionally. Hopefully in the next few days, if the water's not frozen at the coast, I'll have a shot at Lake St. Clair outside Detoit, Lake Eerie, and possibly Lake Michigan.

M - At the Gateway Arch

I made just a quick stop in St. Louis to see one of my favorite landmarks. Now on to Indianapolis.

**Posted from a mobile device**

M - Banjo for sale - $115 OBO

Somehow I've ended up with two banjos and I'm selling this one in the video. It's in good condition and sounds great (in my opinion) despite of my playing. It's a great beginner banjo if you've ever thought about tinkering around with one. If you don't like it, these are always coming and going on Craigslist so I think you could easily sell it. However, I'm about a year into playing mine and I really enjoy it (not that my shoulder has healed enough to reach up the neck of the banjo!).

Seriously, just make an offer. I'd really like to sell this one.

M - "...the winds came striking down the wain"

M - My favorite day of the year

Amongst the many conflicts that can arise in marriages due to conflicting family traditions (things like whether you open presents on Christmas morning vs. Christmas Eve), Dana and I wandered onto something in the early days of our marriage that has become uniquely our own.
It involves food, of course, but it's mostly a special tradition just because it is ours.

During our first Christmas as a married couple, like most, we wanted to have our own gift exchange prior to traveling to see family. We decided also to include a fancy meal and use our china which at this point would have only been about 6 months old. We set up a card table in living area of apartment #412 and commenced to have ourselves quite a nice dinner prior to opening presents.

This is something that just 'stuck' and we've been doing it every year since.

This year we had grilled steak and grilled shrimp kabobs as the main dish. Sides included sweet potato casserole, bread, salad and a wonderful dessert. Everything turned out about as perfect as we could have hoped.

We had a BEEEYOOOTIFUL fire (are you starting to think I'm a pyromaniac) to help set the already wonderful mood. Much to our children's chagrin, this is a 'dress up' dinner and it's such serious business we have graduated from our card table to actually moving the whole kitchen table into the living room.

As you can see, no details are spared and even the table is decorated quite nicely.

This is Katie's signal that she ate her last shrimp and is now ready for DESSERT!!

And doesn't desssert look tasty?! Your eyes are not deceiving you - it was EXCELLENT.

General mischief and merriment.

Not that you'd expect our kids to be going bonkers most of the evening already in anticipation of opening presents...but we prolong the agony even more by forcing pictures before any presents are opened.

The obligatory family photo...

More mischief and merriment...

Group silliness...

Noah's subtle reaction to opening the Wii...

Katie tightly holding her Princess game for the Wii...

I'm so very serious when I say this is my favorite overall day of every year. It's such a special time for our family and, since we go 'all out', it really makes a great memory. If nothing else, it'll give our kids something to argue about with their future spouses as they debate the RIGHT way to do Christmas dinner.

M - Gingerbread housing boom defies national trends

One great thing about those REALLY cold days (where the high temp barely breaks 20 degrees as it did a few weeks ago) is that it becomes very obvious that a fire is needed in the fireplace. A traditional fireplace with a fire is the only time throughout the winter where the fireplace doesn't actually make your house colder. These things are horribly inefficient to have around. BUT, when the temp is right and the wood aplenty, a nice warm, crackling fire is impossible to beat for creating a wonderful environment in your house. Such was the case the night we decided to build our first gingerbread house with a really cool kit that Dana found at the store.

Notice the highly crinkled forehead necessitated by such deep concentration. Rest assured, those wrinkles readily left her youthful brow after her study was complete. :-)

"DAD! Enough with the camera!"











It's Noah's theory that Katie's side had too much candy on it and the roof just collapsed under all that weight. Despite our underwhelming success, it was still fun so we'll give it another shot next year!

M - Christmas lights inside and out

I absolutely enjoy Christmas every year and getting ready for it is one of the best parts.

We really like our Christmas tree and Dana has worked out a great system for keeping the lights on it while in storage and using ziplocs and post-it notes to label all the plugs according to where they go on the tree.

Part of our tradition is watching Miracle on 34th Street while we put up the tree. Mind you, this is the VHS version. However, we received the DVD this year as a gift so we're really hot stuff now.

We also put up Christmas lights on the house each year. I remember our first year in this house (1998) and I had MAJOR plans to decorate the outside. The only lights I had were almost all at least 10 years old that I'd hauled from my home in Ardmore. To make a long story short, I sat out in the dark in the freezing cold checking hundreds of light bulbs and finally got so mad I threw every strand of light in a box and gave up.

We've advanced since then and have a pretty good thing going now. We have an alternating light pattern between green, red, and clear and put light strands on all the front eaves and ridges of the house. We also have some candy cane lights we put out.

It seems like this year was the first time in a while it wasn't absolutely FREEZING. We still start way too late in the day and end up finishing in the dark.

MammaBoz was not a big fan of Katie's assistance on the roof this year. In fact, she literally couldn't look up at us and the neighbor had to take our picture!

This year we should be able to keep all our shingle tabs on the light bulbs themselves so it will be much easier next year to put everything back up. I've also drawn a map that shows where each strand goes so the light patterns will end up in the right place. Don't look too hard but this year we have a couple of colors out of order where the strands meet.

This is not easy for two Type A OCD peeps like us but we...managed. :-)

It's not much but it'll do for our special domicile.